Session 9 (2001)

[fizz]

Session 9

Atmospherically creepy, spine tingling tale of a crew of asbestos cleaning workers who meet for a one week assignment at an empty estate that once housed over 2000 thousand mental patients. The real star is the asylum itself and its dreaded surroundings and the film is the best example of a 'haunted house' tale done the right way - using atmosphere and a tone of foreboding dread. Really dives into exploring its many floors, rooms and dark corners giving the dimensions a never ending feel. Also features a tricky narrative structure that flirts with many possibilities during its unsettling resolution, all of which make complete sense on their own. Without a lot of blood spilled and with some fine minimalist direction, Brad Anderson creates one of the most finely crafted horror films of all time. Borrows, and is no doubt (and in no small measure) indebted to Kubrick's shinning, but manages to achieve a lot more. The score is on cue with the very few piano strokes providing the right edginess. Proves the notion that the only thing a good director really needs to scare you is an actor running with a torch in a pitch dark passageway. One of those few instances where digital film doesn't distract, but instead enhances the experience. Anderson is on a roll here, exploring the subject of repressed memories which he would later turn to once again in The Machinist

The tagline 'Fear is a place' becomes more true as the film progresses. An unforgettable, unsettling, truly frightening experience. Big thanks to CaptainHowdy who recommended this many, many months ago when he first made mention of it while giving me a copy of the film (Which had been gathering dust till my new found interest in horror compelled me to pick it up).

Rating: 5/5

[ozzylogic]

Yeah, thanks to your horror fetish I can't sleep proper, lol. J/k, the only movie that really messed me up was The Descent. Stir of Echoes was okay...but Session 9 was cool. The session tapes themselves freaked me out.

[kaytee]

The movie is very similar to The Shining in that it raises the question on whether a certain place you stay or work in influences your life...Thrown in is a mix of some psychologically flawed people, a "possible" evil entity that thrives on human weaknesses, and an absolutly stunning location which is loaded with your typical Brad Anderson atmosphere...

I checked online and found out that this creepy place actually exists in Massachusetts...F*cking creepy...

Highly recommended...

[fizz]

*Spoilers follow*

To people who have seen it --> what do you think, is this a film about possession or one about insanity (you could argue both, but there can only be one definite argument in context of the film itself).

I think it is about a possession, though many have other theories behind what happens and why.

[madali]

My review from <i>the other</i> forum -

Session 9


A cleaning crew take the job of cleaning and disinfecting an old asylum, and scary shit starts to happen. This movie is on the borders of being really good or really tired. There are moments, when you think this movie will get everything right, and then suddenly, it goes back, and you feel like you have seen it before or find a fault with it that ruins your enjoyment of the movie.

First of all. A piece like this can sometimes fully depend on the movie’s look. I don’t think the look worked here, but the fault lie, I think, almost exclusively on the fact that it was filmed on digital video. I’m not a big part of digital, especially when it comes to creating a mood. It is hard to describe, but it might be because it looks too clean, like a fake, plastic plant. Movies like this need to be more dirty and raw. A lot of 70s, low-budget movies are able to create better horror mood, because it was film, rather than digital.

Still, I was entertained throughout the movie, and constantly wanted to know what would happen next, even though a lot of it might have been unfair twists, because of the numerous red herring included. Sometimes in a movie something occurs that seems to only there to confuse the audience, and does not make sense in the context of the movie. This, I think, happened more than once in the movie, and I think it was the easy way out for the director, and he could have avoided that with a little more skill.

I think my favorite part of the movie is David Caruso. It is always a pleasure to watch him, and I am not usually sure why exactly. I can’t exactly say he is underrated, since none of his roles exactly stand out in my head, but I also do realize, that whenever I watch him act, I can’t feel but be a little bit more entertained than I normally would. I think he has a sort of tired, coolness about it.

Anyway, Brad Anderson’s next movie, The Machinist, takes a lot of what he does in this movie, and improves on it.

3/5